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Matt Elam tweeted this morning that he has decided to postpone his announcement until Signing Day. This morning Elam told KSR:

I just didn’t feel comfortable doing it and I chose this because I thought it would be enough time, but it’s not. And like I could commit and be not 100% but thats not how I am. I want to be all into and right now I am not. So I talked it over with my mom and coach and they think thats best. So that is what I’m going to do. I hope everyone understands.

Have to think UK is out now. Don’t think they will flip any of the Ohio State guys either. It looked like they had momentum to improve the class, but now they have to hold on to those that didn’t enroll early.

Or maybe he wants to play for the best coach in the country and a program that, from 2008 on, has been the best in the country. Playing for Saban at a school like Alabama is as close as one can get to getting a “golden ticket”, if you will. Namely, winning multiple national championships and getting drafted ($$$).

There was a time, not too long ago, where Bama had losing seasons. You have to start somewhere, it starts with the staff, then the recruits, then the development, then the production. So far, the staff is making huge strides to turn UK back into a respectable football program and they’re doing a fine job with recruiting.

You could say the same thing about Kentucky fans sweating over basketball recruits potentially going to inferior schools. And also, there was a time when we were mediocre in basketball and had a drunk for a coach. What’s your point? You can say the same thing about every fan base. Fraud.

Doubt he plays as a true freshman at Alabama next year. They have a solid nose tackle returning, a 5* DT who was one of the best freshman in the country this year, 2 other 4* DT’s, and a DT ranked ahead of Elam on Rivals in their class this year. Even if he goes to UK, Elam will probably redshirt. He needs to lose AT LEAST 30-40 pounds of fat and put it back on as muscle.

He wants to wait so not feel all the hate from home town Ky fans. It will be Alabama, and really who could blame him. Remember Cousins and Bledsoe, from Ala and chose UK. That was a no brainer for them and this will be for Elam. Home town pressure loses to reality.

Track record? Stoops’ last year team is playing Monday night in some game I think. Check it out, perhaps you heard of the game on Monday, it’s only the national championship game. O, and the defense he put together is ranked a modest #1.

So that is his record douche bag. But if you want to focus on the recent HC record he is 2-10. Not to shabby considering what he took over and had a few games that were within reach at the end.

I wouldn’t count out Stoops and his staff yet although it certainly doesn’t look as promising. Maybe FSU has a big game Defensively and gives Elam a little something to think about since those are Marks guys….Yeah I’m reaching. It’s was a small miracle to get Elam on board at all after being snubbed by Joker SOO maybe Mark can still pull off some magic. Sucks waiting though. GO BIG BLUE

I woke up this morning feeling excited about the thought that Elam would pick up and then Jones and other would quickly follow. Now it’s looking like Elam will go to Alabama and the rest of the prospects go elsewhere too. Marrow and Barker have done an amazing job recruiting but UK needed an extra little push to finish the class that Elam would have been the catalyst to bring the rest in.

With Saban done for the season his full focus will go into recruiting and there’s little hope of beating him now. The timing says it all. UK has the momentum, Saban loses his bowl game, goes back to recruiting and now Elam is unsure. Saban probably went straight to work on Elam and we’ll lose out.

It doesn’t matter where you go to school. If you can play, the NFL will find you. Randall Cobb, Tim Masthay, Wesley Woodyard, Danny Trevathan, Larry Watford, Stevie Johnson….ALL major contributors for their respective teams and ALL from Kentucky.

Then Eric Fisher got selected number one last year and he’s from a MAC school (not to mention Kansas City is prety good this year). If you can play, the NFL will find you. Period. Yes Alabama gets more looks, but you look across the rosters and the variety of schools where players come from is vast.

Agreed! …With our record being so bad lately even a modest improvement will look huge from the outside and credit will be heaved on the players and coaches. Just another face in Bama (not that anyone can blame him if he goes) but he could actually stand out more in Lexington.

Very interesting. At no time did any interviews or sources lead anyone to believe he was this mixed on his decision. When all along maybe we thought he was doing us a favor by committing to UK on national tv. Kids will be kids but postponing until signing day after being committed to announce today for the last four months is quite odd. UK still has momentum and let’s hope Elam wants to be a part of it. UK blue on national tv would’ve been nice though. Ugh

Elam probly loves the attention, and Saban probly talked to him last night. Who cares! The season does not kick off any sooner, so it does really matter when he signs, just as long as he’s in the UK uniform next year. Remember Jason Hatcher?

I totally agree…He even alluded to that in his interview with Matt Jones last week. He likes the attention and wants to be headlines on KSR once a week, and for people to mention him on Twitter. He must have found out that stuff slows down after you commit.

Is changing not rolling. There is a reason why big time recruits are passing on Bama now and going to LSU (see #1 overall recruit), UCLA, FSU etc. Football dominance is cyclical and unsustainable for long periods of time in todays age. Bama is now on the downside of its dynasty and will continue to slide.

Uhhh…then how come Bama got the #1 overall recruit (Hand) on Rivals? Or #1 player on 247 (Robinson)? They nabbed two of the top prospects in Louisiana (Robinson-5*, and Laurence Jones). Louisiana is 2nd to none in terms of difficulty for other teams to get players to leave and not pick LSU. Also, Bama is the only school with 4 5* players according to BOTH Rivals and 247. And it’ll be 5 when they get Marlon Humphrey, a top 10 recruit in the country, who is from Alabama. As for Leonard Fournette, he’s been all LSU for 2 years. the fact that Saban kept his recruitment slightly competitive (quite a few folks were saying he would pick Bama in the last 24 hours before his announcement), speeks volumes about his ability. You have no clue what you’re talking about when it comes to football recruiting. Typical basketball fan with no knowledge of football recruiting. Basketball and football recruiting are different animals. Saban and other football coaches will EASILY pass over 5* players if they feel that 3* and 4* players will be better players and better fits for their systems. This isn’t basketball recruiting where Cal has to get 5*’s because of his players leaving after 1-2 years. In football, you can afford to be patient with recruiting 3* and 4* players because they have to stay at least 3 years.

Quit writing stories about him. It’s called Kentucky football, not the university of Elam. Go find another Kentucky kid that will bust his tail for the big blue. Elam needs to get to the gym, not be a drama queen. Me above the team is the wrong direction, could care less about how good he is.

Sick of the tweets of the past week of all of them.

Do your talking on the field. Make a decision and get out of the media story. Go be a me person, who cares.

ONE MONKEY DONT STOP A CIRCUS…WE AT KENTUCKY WOULD LOVE FOR THIS YOUNG MAN TO COME PLAY AND GAIN EXPIERENCE THATHE WILL NEVER HAVE AT BAMA..THE JOB OF HELPING BUILD U OF K TO SOME RECOGNITION WOULD BE HIS FOREVER…STOOPS WANTS YA…WE LOVE YA…COME ON HOME SON

We knew it would be hard to turn down Alabama where he would have a chance to win a ring. Stoops still isn’t out but it would be disappointing to lose a Ky. HS player who is a 5 star player. We will have more four stars coming this year than in the past which should in a couple of years get us back in a bowl than in time maybe UK can crack the top three in the East Division.

I really don’t think the kid is an attention whore. I must state that i have no inside info, just observing from tweets and media interviews. If it were me and I wanted to commit to ALA, I wouldn’t do it today with all the hype. It just magnifies the let down in choosing another school. Perhaps the family realized they had un-intentionally created a media snowball with high expectations for UK. Not wanting to let folks down, perhaps figured it would be easier to make an announcement in the frenzy of signing day, where UK fans will be focused on many other things going on and the sting won’t be as bad with all the other news of recruiting. If he chooses ALA today, he would have let every UK fan down at the time when everyone was watching him and only him! If he chooses ALA, let’s all show class and wish him best. But, I do think wearing an ALA shirt under his UK jacket during his UK visit was a telling sign….

Yes, he is a highly ranked recruit but he hasn’t played any competition in Kentucky high school football. Take a lesser prospect used to going against superior athletes. If your from UK and even have to think about it… go on. Alabama or not.
Stop giving him headlines and focus on the recruits we have like Stanley “BOOM” Williams.

My uncle was at that game. He said Elam was so winded he couldn’t get down in his stance before the plays started. Highlands does run an up-tempo offense, but so do college teams. Kid needs to drop some pounds and start running sprints in order to be more than a short yardage type player.

Actually, coach Schlarman knows the area well. He used to coach high school up there and his brother was (might still be) the head coach of the Highlands basketball team. Also, Pat Towles and Sheehan are from Highlands, as well as Jared Lorenzen. It does seem like UK could recruit a few more players from both schools though as they are always a couple of the top teams in the state.

Tough decision for the kid. Think about Cousins, what if he would had stayed at his home state school of Alabama to help them instead of attended a NBA factory UK ? Same difference, at the end of the day, he has to make a decision that is best for HIM. If he picks Bama, can you really blame him ?

No i can’t blame him at all if he picks Bama, but I just wish he would have made his decision when he said he would. But, he is a teenager after all. I’m glad I had my life completely figured out at 17/18.

I never bought into the Elam hype due to his lack of conditioning and the fact he’s not just big, he’s fat. This is still a bad sign for UK though. Matt has to know that his commitment to UK could also influence a couple other highly ranked recruits to join the Cats’ class. So either Elam knows he wants to go to UK and doesn’t care about bringing other guys with him, or he is seriously considering Alabama again. Either way, not good for the Cats.

Exactly….it’s Wiggins all over again. Kid has gotten WAAAAAAAY too comfortable with BBN, the UK coaching staff, and our facilities and equipment, to be this indecisive. I think he’s just playing UK for the attention. If he had any intentions of being a “hero”, he’d have committed a long time ago.

With all of the increase media coverage of Thursday events with other players, is it possible that Matt Elam may want all of the attention on him…To much other speculation of this one or that one may have had a change of heart as to where they are attending school..or this coach or that coach is going where. Not sure if the bar has swayed more to Al just thinks he wants the sole attention

I don’t know why anyone lets one of these prima donna children get them worked up. If he comes to UK, great. If he doesn’t so what. I’ll just be glad when we don’t have to read how many times he sneezed each day.

It’s hilarious that so many of you know Matt Elam. Where have you guys been his whole recruitment? We could’ve used you as sources for this whole time, you know SO MUCH about Elam’s personality and how he will play at the next level, and who he’s been talking to. Unless you all ARE Matt Elam!!!!

ding ding ding…. you’re exactly right!!! When your tweeting Kirk Herbstreet to ask him where thinks you are going, you’re going to far!!! This kid is loving the spotlight.. Its getting annoying!!!! Kid is acting goofy

What seems obvious to me is that this 18 yo kid wants the spotlight and kudos of going to “big name, all business” Alabama but at the same time doesn’t want to lose the feel good friendships and camaraderie of the KY recruit group. He knows if he chooses AL that will be gone instantaneously.

This does feel like the football equivalent of Wiggins. We should all probably ignore recruiting hype and celebrate when we get a commitment. But that’s hard to do if you follow your team online.
Good luck to Elam making the best decision for himself. It’s hard when you’re young and you don’t understand that God doesn’t write the answer across the sky, sometimes you just have to make a decision and go with it, certainty comes after.

Relax people….this is a HUGE decision for anyone to make, let alone an 18yo. Let him take as much time as he wants. It would be great if he came to UK, but we will survive if he doesn’t and you certainly can’t blame him if he chooses Bama….I mean come on….2 straight national titles over 2 straight 2 win seasons?

I have been waiting for this announcement for a long time. Woke up excited about announcement. Now, the morning of, you delay? You say you want to be 100% and I understand that, but why not postpone last week? This week? last night? Waiting for the last moment to postpone really sucks, gotta think that he likes the attention too much. Really Really want to see Elam in blue next year but this last second postponement really pisses me off!!! What are you going to learn in a month you haven’t learned in the past 2 years?

It is like the Wiggins situation. He’s gone so let’s go JUCO route if anyone is still out there.We may pick up somebody because of the coaching dominoes. There could be a kid who won’t sign because the coach has moved on. Penn State and probably Vandy come to mind.

Yea, it’s pretty obvious he likes the attention. I’m in E-town and i know some people VERY close to his former coach (brother), and as far as i know, he’s playing everyone here out to the very end. I would rather him never commit at all though, then to commit and flip on signing day or something. I imagine that a few of these guys are all waiting for the other ones to pull the trigger first. It would have been HUGE if he had committed to UK on Nat’l TV, but we don’t get kids like Barker to come along very often. Most of them are more concerned for themselves primarily.

I can’t take credit for that “nick”name. It’s been thrown around on talk radio by Auburn fans here in Bama for some time. Just look up some audio or video of how he talks to the press sometimes and you’ll see why.

He’ll also be in BCS bowls every year, something he likely won’t be in at UK. On top of winning at least 1 national title. SMH. Do our basketball fans say that so and so shouldn’t come to UK because he’d get lost in the shuffle with all the talent? What FRAUDS. Try and be objective. Gotta love double standards.

I’m not a big fan of the kid anyway. Sure, it would be great if we got him, but he comes off as as douche. Have you all seen his pics? He has his arms out like he is a muscle bound freak that can’t put them down. Look at the pic posted yesterday! The one that is the big group of all stars, he is taking up all the room in his vicinity on purpose, basically saying look at me. He just wants attention, but sorry to tell him he will just be another number at Alabama, with no spotlight on him. He will get that here, but I’m not so sure I want to see that now. I wish him luck, but check your attitude kid.

I for one believe this is terrible news.. It tells me that He was leaning UK but didnt feel right about commiting to UK.. Something tells me this announcement is basically saying UK is out of the mix,he wanted to choose UK but just couldnt do it!! Hope im wrong!!

Also.. The coaches will clearly stay on trying to recruit Elam , but i think the fans should start planning on him not coming here!!! If we get him its a huge bonus , but it looks like he wasnt comfortable picking Kentucky today (kentucky was rumored to be leader) i dont see him comfortable on feb 5th either !!

Was looking forward to today…. Somewhat of a let down…. The kid needs to make the right decision for himself, period. It’s his life, and what he decides will be an impact him more than the school he goes with… Gotta understand that logic… Good luck Matt!

Can we now give this kid some space. stop the everyday Matt Elam watch. how many times has recruits used Kentucky’s brand for the hype and attention. he seems like the attention getter type. leave him alone give him his time. stop reporting on his every move.

Hes picking Bama. He just wanted to be respectful to Barker and not do It with him standing there on live TV. Its ok though, he will probably get recruited over and Saban probably wont be there In 5-6 years when he graduates.

this is silly. pick one and move on. the delay tells me he just doesn’t have the &^%$% to tell the people in Ky. that he is not choosing the cats. at uk he has friends, relatives and he is a in state guy that the fans love. In Bama he is another big time player. who is replaceable. at UK he is a “star”. big boy choose and stop the drama….

Be a man, Stoops, pull the offer. Not only is Elam telling you no, he’s also flipped two other guys back to Ohio who were considering UK. He’ll sit the Pine Boards for at least 2 years at Bama and then wind up somewhere like EKU.

UK is a good place to be. You will be playing immediately and be able to stand out and be noticed.
You can still be the star you want to be and move on to the pros. You can choose Bama and play in the midst of great players that may overshadow you, without as much playing time, and you may sit on the bench at Bama. You could play on a championship team at Bama but as you see from being ranked #1 all year and come to the end of the season they lose two most important games of the year, so championships are not a guarantee. UK will show you Love and a lot of playing time on a team that is going to be successful under Stoops. I would hope that a Kentuckian would want to play for UK. Where ever you choose to play Matt, I wish you the best. Go Cats! Go Stoops! Go BBN!

Seminole – Fl. St defense may have been better because Stoops recruited some good defensive players for the present year. He also recruited the defensive players that are growing experience wise. His recruiting at Fl. St has definitely paid off else the Seminoles would not be playing in the Game next week. His ability to be a head coach will be determined when he gets his own recruits together. He seemingly is doing pretty good for UK has had its best recruiting year in school history. Without him the Seminoles could see a downward trend in its defense in the coming years. Good luck to the Seminoles but as a UK fan I will be pulling for the SEC representative Auburn. Don’t be offended by anything I have said, I don’t mean this post to be ugly or hateful in any way.